Bad weather and hostile terrain hampered the evacuation of the two injured policemen. One of them, Raju Netam, died by the time they were evacuated.

The police team seized explosives , ammunition and documents from the site of the encounter.(HT PHOTO)

A Chhattisgarh policeman who was injured in an encounter with Maoists on Saturday afternoon in Narayanpur district of Bastar region succumbed to injuries later in the night, police said Sunday.

The policeman was part of team which raided a training camp of Maoists in Abujmaad jungles and killed five rebels in the encounter. Around a hundred policemen took part in the raid.

Two jawans, Raju Netam and Somaru Gota, were also injured in the gun battle.

“Raju Netam, a jawan of district reserve guard, who had sustained critical bullet injuries in his abdomen, died during evacuation from the jungle,” Narayanpur’s superintendent of police Mohit Garg said.

Bad weather and hostile terrain hampered the evacuation of the two injured policemen. The team took a few hours to reach the nearest police station at Orchha, 20 km away at around 10.30 pm in the night and when doctors were called, Raju was declared brought dead.

Five Maoists were also killed in the encounter. The police team seized a huge cache of weapons, explosives and documents from the spot, the SP said.

Gota was sent to Raipur where he is under treatment and his condition is said to be stable.

Police said that this is the first time in 2019 that they managed to go deep in Abujmad and challenge Maoists.

“There were about 50 Maoists when the encounter started. Our team demolished a military training camp of the Maoists but we lost one of brave jawan. We believe more Maoists were killed in the incident but the Maoists managed to drag their bodies in the jungles,” said Chhattisgarh’s Director Genral of Police, DM Awasthi.